http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=160323

 

Yvo de Boer warns that it's crunch time for delegates attending the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under way in Durban - and the outcome is likely to be difficult

 

IT IS crunch time for delegates attending the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under way in Durban - and the outcome is likely to be difficult, Yvo de Boer, the former head of the process, warned yesterday.

However, where governments were failing to act, many businesses were showing the way, Mr de Boer said.

"This is a critical (conference)," he said, speaking at a joint function hosted by KPMG and the Fair Trade Foundation.

"The process has been dragging for some time."

A key question will be the future of the Kyoto Protocol and whether countries will sign up to a second commitment period, or allow it to become an empty shell after next year.

Mr de Boer, a special adviser to KPMG, was executive secretary of the framework convention, which oversees the negotiations, until he stepped down last year.

The position is now filled by Christiana Figueres.

Mr de Boer is a veteran of such talks, having attended a total of 16 Conferences of the Parties .

"What I find encouraging is that there is a growing realisation that the world has outgrown the Kyoto Protocol as the only legal instrument to address climate change," he said.

In 1992, when the protocol was negotiated, it was still possible to divide the world into two camps - developing countries and developed countries, said Mr de Boer.

"We have now moved out of the black and white world into full technicolour. We need an international process that addresses that global realisation in the conference," he said.

One positive outcome from the conference would be for countries to sign up to a second commitment period on the understanding that a full global agreement would be reached in 2015 - a suggestion known as the European Union (EU) roadmap.

"I understand the issue many countries have with the notion of abandoning the Kyoto Protocol as it is the only legally binding protocol. I also sympathise with the group that says Kyoto only binds a small amount," he said, suggesting the EU roadmap could be an acceptable way forward.

But many businesses had already started to take action on climate change and sustainability, as they realised that there was an impact on the bottom line, on their reputations and on the future supply of goods and services.

"Important strides have been made, but there are also important challenges ahead, in transparency, in enabling people to cope with the demands of sustainability," Mr de Boer said.

He said the "polluter pays" principle should be redefined so that consumers, rather than producers, paid the full environmental cost of consuming a product. "Business is already leading the way. It would be nice if the people we elected to lead us would also lead," Mr de Boer said.

Rob Cameron, CEO of the Fair Trade Foundation, said businesses were increasingly realising they needed to take a long-term view of their supply chains to ensure sustainability, particularly when it comes to commodities such as coffee and cocoa.